Adjustable fastener receptacle



Patented Mar. 7, 1950 UNITED STA'IES-A PATENT OFFICE@ ADJUSTABLE FASTENER RECEPTACLE William Dzus, West Islip, N. Y.

Application October 31, 1944, Serial No. 561,204

This invention relates to 4fasteners and; more particularly', to a receptacle for a fastener fof the type employing a stud and a receptaclev adapted to interengage with eachother upon rotation. of one of the members. Fasteners of. this type may be used to detachably hold together. two members of any type, for instance, .two platesgand are extensively used for fasteningdetachable plates, and covers. A particular use for fasteners oithis type is in fastening the engine cowling of aircraft where, due to theirquick operation and 'ability to hold under tension withoutadverse eifect from vibration. they are particularly useful. One of the problems heretofore.` met with fasteners of this typey has been due to variations in the material with which they were .used and diillculties in installation. The receptacle and fastener in the older typel must necessarily match and be so installed that proper `tension is placed on the cross bar of the receptacle when the fastener was closed. Where theparts held together varied in thickness or where errors were made in installation the efciency ofthe fasten` ers was necessarily impaired since the tension desired was not always maintained. Also in previous types of fasteners it was not possible to use studs of various length vwith the same vreceptacle to secure materials of the same thickness since the desired tension could not be secured.

An object of this invention is to provide a receptacle with which the desired tension may be secured by adjustment of the receptacle to allow for variations in thickness of platels'igrommet installations, bows in plates, and 'other variations which may occur ininstallation.

A furtherl object of this invention vis to provide a receptacle which is adapted to receive different length studs and which may be adjusted to se-` cure greater or lesser tension as the particular problem requires.v

A further object is to provide a `receptacle in which the spring element is always pre-loaded so that when rst engaged by lthe'stud it is already under tension and there is no necessity of taking up any slack.

A still further object is to provide a receptacle in which the tension may be increased after-the fastener is locked so that inserm-permanent in# stallationswhere it is not necessary to open and close the fastener except at long intervals the tension maybe materially increased.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from an examination .o the drawings and the following description. -fIn-the drawings-4 l -Figure v 1 is a cross sectional view of an assembled fastener embodying my receptacle taken on the line I-I of Figure 3;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. l on the line 2-2 of Fig; 3;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the receptacle shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 isa cross sectional `view showing'my fastener applied to and adjusted for plates of different thickness;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional viewr showing a modified form of receptacle used with a stud of greater length;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a` portion of the receptacle lbefore assembly;

Fig. is a cross sectional view of the'spring carrying'member before assembly;

Fig. 8 is a View of the spring before assembly:

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional View of spring carrying member and the spring after assembly.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, as shown in Figures l and 2 the fastener assembly is adapted to hold together plates i0 and Il. Mounted in the plate il is a stud l2. Stud I2'is provided adjacent its head with a grommet groove I 4, is positioned in the plate Il by means of the grommet I5, and is free to rotate therein. The stud l2 is provided with a spiral slot IB terminating in a cam shoulder l1 dening'a detent.

Mounted on the plate I0 is the receptacle member which includes the base member 2l which may be riveted through the openings 22 to the plate l0 by means of the rivets 23 or which may be welded or otherwise fastened in place. Mounted on the member 2! is a tubular member 24 provided with external threads 25 and slots 26. The tubular member 2li is adapted to receive the spring carrying collar member 39 which consists of a collar 3| having a neck 32 internally threaded at 33 to engage the threads 25 and the spring 35. Spring 35 is provided with a locking bar in the form of 'cross bar 36 with end members 3T and 38 -bent in an S formation, as clearly shown in Figure 3. In preparing the member 39 the lower walls 49 of the collar member are formed straight.

- In assembly, the spring member l35 is inserted within the chamber dened by the collar me1n- .aber and thenacompressed so' as to berpre-loaded and the ends 4D flared inwardly to hold the spring under compression. Thespring carrying collar 39 is then screwed onto the tubular member 24 with the cross bar 36 resting in the slots 26. The Vtension of the ends '3l and 38 against the walls of fthe-chamber' 4l lWilljbesuch as toy allow the rota:- ltion of; the.' collar; but suicien-t to. holdpit .in place after rotation. The outer Wall 34 of the collar is preferably nurled or roughened to provide a convenient grip. To complete the assembly a cap may be sprung or soldered into place in the open end of the tubular member 24. This cap not only tends to cover the end of the tubular member but also supports the walls thereof and prevents the narrowing of the slots 26 under pressure.

Since the threads 25 and 33 may be made of predetermined pitch the exact travel of the collar on the tubular member during one revolution may be predetermined. The collar may be marked at 46 and the member 2l at 41 with register marks I so as to determine the exact number of turns made in adjustment.

In Figure 4 the receptacle is shown with they stud holding two plates 50 and 5| together. Due

to the thickness of the plate 50 the stud I2 cannot travel as vfar within the receptacle 2U as would be the case if the plate 50 were as thin as the plate I!) and itis, therefore, necessary to screw the receptacle down on the tubular member 24 to allow engagement of the cross bar 36 by the slot I6. In comparing Figures 2 and 4 it will be noted that the receptacle 20 has been screwed down a distance equal to difference in the thickness of the plates 50 and ID. In Figure 5 the fastener is holding together the plates and 58. In this case the stud 56 has a longer over-all length than the studs shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4. Under such circumstances the receptacle 20 is screwed further out on the tubular member 24 to provide the proper tension on the cross bar 36 when the fastener is closed or locked. The foregoing illustrations show variations due to different thicknesses of plates and length of studs.

Other variations occur in installing fasteners, particularly of the iiush type as shown, where the plate 55 is bowed inwardly at 51 to bring the head of the stud iiush with the surface of the plate. While this bow is usually formed by precision tools it will be appreciated that variations will occur which will affect the tension on the cross bar 36 when the fastener is locked.

It will be noted that when the spring carrying collar member is assembled the ends of the cross bar 3B are in pressure contact with the flange 60 within the chamber 4I. However, when the fastener is locked the cam action of the stud will pull the cross bar downwardly so that there will be a slight space between the flange 60 and the cross bar, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

It is believed obvious from the foregoing that not only can my receptacle be adjusted to overcome variations in thickness of the parts held together but also may be adjusted to receive studs of different length. Moreover, the amount of tension on the cross bar 3B may be adjusted for different installations in accordance -with the needs of the particular installation. In other words, where one installation might require X pounds tension to prevent separation of the plates, 'another installation might require twice as much tension. T his may be supplied by setting the 'collar further out on the tubular member before or after the fastener is locked. Various modications of my receptacle may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and it may be readily adapted to different types of studs.

I claim:

1. In a separable fastener` a receptacle member comprising an externally threaded slotted tubular l`vmember, an `internally threaded .collar 'member 4 on said tubular member, and a cross bar carried by said collar member and engaged by said slots.

2. A fastener element comprising a tubular member, said tubular member having a pair of oppositely disposed slots, a collar member adjustably mounted on said tubular member, a spring having a cross bar mounted in said collar member, said cross bar engaging said slots, and said spring member being under predetermined tension.

3. A fastener element including a slotted tubular portion, a collar member adjustably mounted on said tubular portion, a spring member associated with said collar member, a cross bar disposed through said slot and operatively associated with said spring, said cross bar being adapted to be engaged bya stud having a spiral slot in one end and a detent on' the inner recess of said slot, and means for varying the position of said cross bar to properly position the same with relation to said stud.-

4. In a separable fastener a receptacle member including a threaded member having oppositely disposed slots, a collar engaging said threaded member having a chamber therein, a spring having a cross bar mounted insaid chamber, said cross bar being engaged by said slots and the ends of said spring being engaged and compressed by said chamber by reason of which said spring, while free to rotate in said chamber, is maintained under predetermined pressure.

5. In a'separable fastener a receptacle member including a threaded member having oppositely disposed slots, a threaded collar on said threaded member, and a cross barrresiliently mounted in said collar and disposed through said slots.

6. In a separable fastener a receptacle member comprising an externally threaded slotted tubular member, an internally threaded collarmember on said tubular member, a cross bar carried by said tubular member and disposed in said slots, and a reinforcing cap positioned in the outer end of said tubular member. 7. -A fastener element comprising a tubular member, said tubular member having a pair of oppositely disposed slots, a collar member adjustably'mounted on said tubular member, a spring having a cross bar mounted in said collar member, said cross bar being disposed across said slots, and a reinforcing cap member in the outer end of said tubular member.

8. In a separable fastener a receptacle member comprising a tubular member, said tubular member having a slot, a collar member adjustably mounted on said tubular member, a spring having -a cross bar .rotatably mounted insaid collar vlatio'nto said tubular member. 410. In a separable vfastener adapted to cooperatewi-th a fastener element a receptacle member comprising a tubular member, a collar member adjustably mounted on said tubular member, andspring means carried by said collar member adapted to engage said fastener element.

11. In a fastener of the typeghaymgra stud and 5 a receptacle interengageable upon the rotation of REFERENCES CITED one With respect to the other, an improved receptacle comprising a base member, a springlgr gsovltgenferences are of record m the carrying member, and a spring having a locking bar associated therewith mounted on said spring- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS carrying member, said locking bar being shiitable Number Name Date relative to the spring-carrying member against 2317 787 Mack Apr 27 1943 the force exerted by said spring upon compressing 2339591 Weber Jan" 18 1944 said spring and said spring-carrying member be- 2364906 Lumsdel De 12 1944 ing adjustably mounted on said base member, i0 whereby the position of the spring-carrying mem- FOREIGN PATENTS ber, spring and locking bar may be shifted rela- Number Country Date tive to the base member Without compressing the 2661164 Great Britain Een 24, 1927 spring.

WILLIAM DZUS. 15 

